Re: [boost] Re: Fw: C++ Threading Library

From: Mac Murrett (mmurrett_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-10-22 16:38:02

If anyone else out there is interested, I will gladly lead the effort to get
this working on Mac OS 8.6+.  The Mac OS _does_ have preemptive
multithreading, through use of MPTasks.  Most of the OS is off limits to
MPTasks, but we can use Boost.Function to move calls out to deferred task
and/or system task time.  We would also need to provide a global override of
operator new to use MPTask-safe memory allocation (not through
MPAllocateAligned, as this incurs unacceptable stalls, but through
OpenTransport or pooled allocation with custom heap management).

Even with such a port, most of the standard library would be off-limits to
code running in these tasks, as most code calls into the OS somewhere, and
it's a good bet that those calls used are not MPTask-safe.  I would have a
blast porting it, though, and I know that my company and our clients would
benefit greatly from such a port.  This is a much better solution for
porting Windows code to the Mac than hacking cooperative threads, especially
for time-sensitive applications.

Mac.

On 10/22/01 5:05 PM, "Stephen Crocker" <melkior13_at_[hidden]> wrote:

>>> Does anyone know if the library has been ported to
>>> MacOS native threads?  not just MacOSX but earlier
>>> MacOS versions?  (eg 8,9)
>>> I've been pulling my hair out trying to find a truly cross-platform
>>> simple threading library that is ported to MacOS aswell as
>> Unix/Win32.
>> 
>> No, there's no MacOS native thread support.
> <SNIP>
> 
> I could easily envision a MacOSX version. MacOSX uses Posix threads so it
> hopefully wouldn't be very much different than a unix/linux version.
> 
> However, I doubt that an MacOS9 version would be done. Reconciling the
> preemptive threading model found on other OSes with the MacOS9 Cooperative
> threading model is very difficult. Working at a company that has had to do
> just that I can tell you it is very much context sensitive and filled with
> compromises. It's unlikely to be able to make a generic enough of a design
> to satisfy everyone.
> 
> I actually wished this cross platform threading library was ready earlier as
> we have had to roll our own for OSX/Win32.
> 
> Steve Crocker
> 
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